Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Warped Digital Reality ❯ Let the language wars begin! ( Chapter 4 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Rocker_Starlight 
At long last, Eric can finally get back to the real world! But what happens when things still seem to be wanting to cause problems?
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / / Adventure / Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 10.16.2002 | Updated On: 05.09.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.7K | Visits: 255 | Status: Completed
At long last, Eric can finally get back to the real world! But what happens when things still seem to be wanting to cause problems?
Anime/Manga: Digimon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / / Adventure / Action | Type: Self Insertion | Uploaded On: 10.16.2002 | Updated On: 05.09.2003 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.7K | Visits: 255 | Status: Completed
Wow.... this only took me a couple monthes to get started..... ::sweatdrops:: Anyway, now, we can finally continue. In this chapter, Eric finally makes it out of the digital world, for the first time since arriving. But will being a Chosen prove to be more then he can handle?
Author Note ~ This chapter has been edited and revised, thanks to the editing prowess of my fellow author and friend " 'K-chan' " ^_^ Thanks a bunch hun, and I hope the new version passes the test.
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Warped Digital Reality
*Chapter 4* ~ Let the language wars begin!
Eric gave a slight grunt as he leaned against the blond chosen under his arm. Although once ToyAgu and Flora came back, he had showed he had enough strength to try and head to the closest digi-port although the damage to his ribs was still showing itself to be a hinderence. He glanced to his side, seeing his partner, the small T-rex known as ToyAgumon who walking next to Floramon, the little plant digimon they had saved together on his first day in the Digital World. A young woman named Hikari, who walked behind them, was slightly brushing her brown hair out of her eyes with one hand while the other held a small cat-like digimon comfortably to her chest. On his other side, TK supported his weight while a small, orange digimon rode on his white hat.
Although it was getting close to dusk, the decision to head back to the real world tonight had been supported by the simple fact that TK and Hikari both had school the next day. With himself being mobile enough to move without severe pain, they had all agreed to head to the digi-port just outside the city. As they walked, Eric began to work on piecing together some of the small details he had been thinking on. 'Hikari and TK both appear to be Asian.... Maybe Japanese or Chinese... So will they be taking me to my home, or theirs?' Not voicing his thoughts, he held his pace, trying to lean on TK as much as possible, although with little success.
After ten minutes of walking, a small TV came into view, sitting in the grassy plains surrounding the city. Odd as it seemed, Eric almost gave the sight no thought, until he saw that the path they were walking on lead right to it. Blinking for a second, he watched the female chosen walk past him and TK, holding her digivice up to the TV. "Digi-port, open!" As she spoke the command words, he could only stare in surprise as the television lit up with a similiar glow like the one that had swallowed him through his own computer screen in the first place.
Hikari smiled softly as she turned to them, "You two first. Koushiro and Jyou are waiting, so Eric needs to be the first through." TK nodded in agreement and Eric felt him to start moving again. Although his feet were a little sluggish from the moment's rest, it wasn't enough to holding them back from making it to the screen. As Eric stared at the glowing screen, he barely registered the digivice TK pulled out and held out to it when suddenly, it felt as if the world was falling out from under him all over again.
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Jyou blinked, pushing his glasses back up his nose a little, as he watched TK and the new digidestined appear from the port, landing on the bed they had set up just for their landing. As TK crawled out from under the new chosen, the blue-haired, young man got his first good look at the newest member to their team. He didn't seem very well-dressed for treking in the wilderness of the Digital world, wearing only a pair of swimming shorts it seemed and a t-shirt, covered by a grey and black flannel jacket. He had medium brown hair, only as long as his shoulders, appearing very wild like it had not been brushed in ages but not horrid-looking.
Walking closer, Jyou moved the bed out of the gate's path with TK's help as the rest of the digimon and Kari came through. The boy -- Erin or Eric, something like that, he believed-- was opening his auburn eyes slightly with a wince on his face. Assuming it had to do with his injuries, Jyou gave a reassuring smile, "It's alright. May i take a look at your wounds?" The young man blinked in confusion at him and said something softly, sounding like English for 'lovely...', but Jyou failed to see what was pretty about this situation.
Looking over at Kari, he pushed his glasses back up again. "I thought you said he spoke Japanese?"
The child of Light blinked in response, walking over to Eric, and touched his chest with a soft hand, "Eric? Can't you understand me?" The young man -- Eric definetely being his name Jyou noted -- shook his head slightly, still looking as perplexed as before. She looked to Jyou with a slightly confused look, "We were talking fine, before though.... It sounded like he was speaking perfect Japanese with us..."
"I have a possible theory," Koushiro popped in for a moment, having been typing quietly at his computer. "Based on our prior meetings with Chosen in the Digital World, I believe the world itself somehow acts like a constant and planet-wide translator. It takes the speech from one person and effectively alters the speech patterns in the air, so that others hear it in thier natural linguistics." The computer whiz turned to look at the other four teens, seeing blank expressions on three but slight confused on for the oldest. "Basically, I mean the Digital World makes it so we can hear each other in our natural language, no matter where we are from. This would explain why we could speak with Michael so well when you two first met him."
Kari and TK both nodded, understanding the less complicated explination. "Then, how do we speak with him, Koushiro-kun?" Kari tilted her head slightly at Eric, whose expression was of absolute confusion.
Jyou smiled softly, looking at Eric, now that he understood the problem better. Remembering the English classes he had taken in order to keep in touch with Mimi, he bowed politely to the evident Americian, getting his attention. "Sorry. Did not realise, not know Japanese. Alright if check body?" He hoped he had worded his sentence correctly, smiling a bit more, as Eric sighed a little in relief and nodded, sliding his flannel off his shoulders.
Glad he had finally found a small way to communicate, the chosen of Faith leaned over as the foreign teen pulled his shirt up, exposing wrapped bandages around his ribs. Going to work, Jyou began examining the amount of damage that had been done, so he could figure out how much time of healing would be needed.
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TK blinked as Jyou said something in English, temporarily solving the language barrier they seemed to have run into. He glanced at his best friend, seeing her peer over Izzy's shoulders as he furiously typed away at his laptop again, which seemed to leave him as the official digimon watcher.
The four digimons who have decided to sit in a corner apart from everyone, seemed to have less of a communications problem then their human companions. Although Eric's ToyAgumon was speaking English, like his partner, the Floramon with them seemed fluent in Japanese and English both, working translations for the others.
"ToyAgu-chan said he wants to know if we might be eating soon. Seems the meal the Gekomon gave us did not satisfy him," Floramon giggles softly, smiling, as she passed the message to Gatomon and Patamon. The two older digimon glanced between themselves before looking at TK and noticing him walking towards them.
"Maybe TK can get something, I'm famished myself." The small wing-eared digimon flapped a couple times, raising himself until he came to rest on TK's hat. Used to the weight, TK watched as the plant digimon relayed the message to the grey agumon copy and immediately understood when his violet eyes light up.
Motioning for the small troupe of digimon to follow him, TK lead the way to the Izumi family kitchen. Thankfully, Koushiro's mother wasn't home today. Although she knew about the digimon now, it was still easier not having to explain new arrivals and such until they understood what was going on. Being as it may though, TK was still able to find a nice supply of sandwiches made on the counter, as if Mrs. Izumi had expected company. 'Is she psychic or something....?' Shaking the odd thought off, he grabbed the plate and handed one sandwich to each of them. He then walked back to Koushiro's room with just enough sandwiches for all the current Chosens present.
As he walked back in to the room, the first thing he noticed was Eric sitting with his bandages off and Jyou was applying some ointment to the bruised and battered areas on his chest. He couldn't help wincing slightly at the mark, not even wanting to imagine how sore it must be. Kari was sitting next to the new chosen, one of her hands on his shoulders in a comforting manner while obviously trying to ignore the new pain from Jyou's touch. Doing his best to overlook the small pang of jealousy, he walked over to Koushiro while most of the digimons trailed behind him to see how the new member was doing.
"So Koushiro," TK walked behind the computer whiz, handing him a sandwich that was absentmindedly taken, "Any plans on how to fix this comunication problem? He can't exactly get around town without knowing some Japanese, and much as she knows, Floramon can not play translator for him outside."
Koushiro took a bite out of his sandwich, chewing and swallowing it before he answered, "I may have an idea. I think I can rig his D3 to act as a translation barrier around him. It will allow him to be able to communicate with anyone else with some form of a digivice as long as he keeps his own on him. It should work for his partner too, although ToyAgumon won't need to stay within the field. Eric keeping his D3 should be sufficient. However, this still means talking outside will be impossible for now. So, I think our best bet would be to find a place for him to stay the night. Given a day or so, I can probably think of something to give him more range, if not having someone try and teach him Japanese."
TK blinked at the long-winded answer, not expecting so much explanation in one quick shot. "Well... I could probably convince my mom it's alright, maybe. She's out of the apartment so much, I don't see what would be the problem."
"That's a great idea, Takeru." TK almost jumped as he heard Kari suddenly behind him. "I'll tell my parents I'm staying at Miyako's tonight to work on a school project and help you watch him." She smiled sweetly at the digidestined of Hope, insuring he couldn't even argue with her about it.
Glancing behind Kari slightly, TK could see Jyou was finishing with the bandages around Eric's ribs again. From what little he could see, the coloration of his skin seemed a bit better, but it was obviously going to take some time to fully heal. As Jyou finished up, TK nodded to Kari, "Alright, but let's make sure he can stay first before doing anything else. Izzy, you try and get that translator running before we have to go, alright?" He recieved a nod from Koushiro and walked out of the room, rubbing his head slightly, as he tried to think how to explain this to his mother.
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Kari smiled softly as she glanced between the two digidestined with her. They were relaxing in TK's apartment since Jyou walked them home to help support Eric. TK was in the kitchen, microwaving a couple of mini-pizzas while she sat with Eric in the living room, listening to the radio. After their arrival, the digimons had tossed away their small costumes, which mostly consisted of small trenchcoats and such, and had gone into TK's room to get some sleep. And that left the three teens to fend for themselves until they tried for sleep as well.
Getting permission to stay at Miyako's had been easier than the Chosen of Light had expected, which was due to her older brother, Taichi, being home with their parents out for the night. All she had to do was tell him what was actually going on, and when he started objecting like a proper, older brother, she simply needed to threaten revealing certain secrets to 'convince' him that her way was the proper one. After that, and Koushiro installing the translator program into Eric's D3, things had been going nicely.
She looked over at the new member of their team as he relaxed on the couch. With his flannel over the back of the recliner next to him and his left arm covering his eyes, he almost seemed like he was sleeping, but she could tell he wasn't. After he had explained about the Driver incident and the language problems at Izzy's, she was a little worried about how he was holding up.
"Are you still hungry, Eric?" she asked, getting a limp nod in response. "Well, I can get you something to drink, if you want..." This time, she recieved a shake of his head, declining her offer. Noticing his lack of movement, she quietly got up and walked into the kitchen where TK was.
The smell of pizza was in the room since two of the three microwavable pizzas were done already, sitting on the counter. TK was watching the last one when Hikari walked in and announced her presance by softly poking under his arm, causing him to jump in surprise. She giggled softly since it never ceased to amaze her how cute he could be at times. As the microwave buzzed for the lat pizza, she opened the refrigerator, getting the orange juice out for something to drink.
"Has he said anything else?" TK asked, facing away from her as he reached to get a plate for the food.
"No... I'm beginning to think he's upset over something, with the few responses he's been giving." Of course, she could imagine that being tossed into the Digital World and returning to the real world in a totally foriegn country would have that effect on her too. "What do you want to do before bed, Takeru?"
The blond looked like he had a faint blush on his cheeks, but with his head still turned away, Hikari was sure she was seeing things. "We could watch some TV, I guess... Although I don't think I have anything with subtitles that Eric can watch with us. Besides, I should finish my math too...." She poured three glasses of OJ before taking the dinner into the living with her friend next to her.
Eric still hadn't really moved, laying on the couch in the same position as he had been before. With TK, Kari set the food and drinks on the table before she nudged Eric's arm, trying to get his attention. After a moment, she blinked and nudged again, surprised she wasn't getting a reaction this time. She gently lifted the arm on his face, giggling softly, as she saw his eyes closed, having drifted into sleep.
Kari put her finger to her lips to let TK know to stay quiet and walked with him into his mother's room to talk. She smiled as TK shut the door, so they wouldn't wake any of the sleepers in the house. Her smile softened as she sat down on the bed, watching him lean against the wall.
"So, what do you think, Takeru-kun?" she tilted her head slightly, watching him.
The blond shrugged slightly, "Not sure... I mean, it won't be hard getting him home, once Koushiro finds the placement for the portal from the digital world to his home, but what do we do until then? He could stay here a couple nights obviously, but without explaining it, or coming up with a fake reason, I can't have him here long before my mom asks...." Pulling his hat off, he let his hair down as he leaned his head back, thinking.
Kari blushed slightly, shaking her head after a minuteof realising she was staring. 'Stop that... Now is not the time to be thinking like that...' she mentally scolded herself. "Well... We should probably get some sleep.... You said I could have this room?"
TK blinked with his own cheeks flushing slightly and nodded, "Y..yea, that's fine. I'll get you a t-shirt, so you don't have to sleep in your clothes."
Kari smiled and nodded, letting TK leave. 'This is harder then I expected.... I almost wish I didn't care this much for him....' She knew that that wasn't true, but it didn't help her. Staying in the same house as TK was definitely not going to be a restful night, knowing that he was right in the other room. For the life of her, she couldn't see why being this close was a problem, considering that she had slept next to him tons of times which included the previous night. And sleeping in his own apartment with the only other people here being a small quartet of digimon and a third person, was somehow making her stomach do multiple backflips.
TK returned, carrying a large, flannel t-shirt. "Here ya go, Hikari-san. This will help ya keep warm." He handed her the flannel, accepting the nod she gave in thanks. "Well, I'm going to try and get that Math done. I'll see ya in the morning, alright?"
"Alright. Good night, Takeru-kun." He slipped out of the room quickly and recieved giggles from her when he bumped into the doorway, trying to close it. She smiled faintly and started undressing with the green flannel spread out on the bed. As she slipped into it, she was glad it was as large as it was, coming down to her thighs easily. Wearing only her underwear underneath it, she folded her clothes nicely on the dresser. "Sleep well, Takeru-chan... My Angel of Hope..." she whispered to herself, giving herself a small blush, as she slipped under the covers, soon drifting off to sleep.
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Sitting at his writing desk, Takeru Takaishi sat tapping his pencil on the paper in front of him. He had already stripped for bed, sitting in his chair in a pair of boxers. Out of the twenty math problems he had to have done tomorrow, he was still only on number five, having trouble concentrating. For the life of him, his thoughts kept drifting out of the room, to one thing or the other.
The newest Chosen did preoccupy part of his thoughts. The way he had arrived and everything just seemed so odd. If he was Americian, why did Koushiro not know where the gate was to his home, before they came back? Koushiro had evidently been a little frustrated by the same thing since he had told them he would be working all night to find where Eric lived, so they could get him home.
TK sighed softly, rubbing his forehead a little. While Eric was a small thing on his mind, the other digidestined in his home was the main reason for his lack of accomplishment. No matter how he tried to focus, he could not get his mind off the fact that Kari was right in the other room, asleep in his flannel.
He shook his head fiercely. If he didn't try harder, he would never get his work done. 'Besides, she's my best friend. I need to stop thinking about her like that....' Putting his pencil down, he looked at the next problem, but seconds later, he showed the same lack of concentration again.
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As most of Odiaba slept peacefully, one young man was still wide awake. Koushiro sat at his computer with one hand typing furiously at the keyboard and the other was typing at the laptop connected to it. He needed to try and get things done so he could sleep for school the next day himself, and the multi-tasking was the only way to get both done.
On the laptop screen, various digimon evolutionary pathes, were being looked through. While adding the new info about Eric and his ToyAgumon, he had decided to try and see if he could figure something out about these digimon Eric had encountered, before TK and Kari found him. He needed to have a talk with the new Chosen soon to see if he could learn anything else, before some new villian decided to show itself.
On the computer was a different variety of information being transferred. The Americian database of people was being scanned thoroughly, searching for information on where the home of the new teen was. The frustration increased since it was such a large information database to search through, and that didn't include the fact that he was having to hack more then a couple of the needed sections.
Brushing one of his hands through his reddish hair for a second, he quickly resumed his task when something on the computer caught his eye, enough to attract his complete attention. He leaned forward, typing various commands, while his eyes grew wider by the second. He was finally beginning to uncover something useful. "What in the....?!"
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Rocker ~ Well, what do you guys thing? I had a insane amount of writer's block, and just finally got this chapter done within the last two days. ::sweatdrops:: Does this chapter feel rushed? I feel like it is, but I knew if I did ont get it done, and some progression done, I would end up blocked all over again.... Well anyway, I am hoping to get more done very soon, and finally make some progression. My apologies on the cliff hanger though, I have been wanting to use one in this for awhile now. ^_^ Anyway, laters all, hope to see ya soon!!
Author Note ~ This chapter has been edited and revised, thanks to the editing prowess of my fellow author and friend " 'K-chan' " ^_^ Thanks a bunch hun, and I hope the new version passes the test.
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Warped Digital Reality
*Chapter 4* ~ Let the language wars begin!
Eric gave a slight grunt as he leaned against the blond chosen under his arm. Although once ToyAgu and Flora came back, he had showed he had enough strength to try and head to the closest digi-port although the damage to his ribs was still showing itself to be a hinderence. He glanced to his side, seeing his partner, the small T-rex known as ToyAgumon who walking next to Floramon, the little plant digimon they had saved together on his first day in the Digital World. A young woman named Hikari, who walked behind them, was slightly brushing her brown hair out of her eyes with one hand while the other held a small cat-like digimon comfortably to her chest. On his other side, TK supported his weight while a small, orange digimon rode on his white hat.
Although it was getting close to dusk, the decision to head back to the real world tonight had been supported by the simple fact that TK and Hikari both had school the next day. With himself being mobile enough to move without severe pain, they had all agreed to head to the digi-port just outside the city. As they walked, Eric began to work on piecing together some of the small details he had been thinking on. 'Hikari and TK both appear to be Asian.... Maybe Japanese or Chinese... So will they be taking me to my home, or theirs?' Not voicing his thoughts, he held his pace, trying to lean on TK as much as possible, although with little success.
After ten minutes of walking, a small TV came into view, sitting in the grassy plains surrounding the city. Odd as it seemed, Eric almost gave the sight no thought, until he saw that the path they were walking on lead right to it. Blinking for a second, he watched the female chosen walk past him and TK, holding her digivice up to the TV. "Digi-port, open!" As she spoke the command words, he could only stare in surprise as the television lit up with a similiar glow like the one that had swallowed him through his own computer screen in the first place.
Hikari smiled softly as she turned to them, "You two first. Koushiro and Jyou are waiting, so Eric needs to be the first through." TK nodded in agreement and Eric felt him to start moving again. Although his feet were a little sluggish from the moment's rest, it wasn't enough to holding them back from making it to the screen. As Eric stared at the glowing screen, he barely registered the digivice TK pulled out and held out to it when suddenly, it felt as if the world was falling out from under him all over again.
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Jyou blinked, pushing his glasses back up his nose a little, as he watched TK and the new digidestined appear from the port, landing on the bed they had set up just for their landing. As TK crawled out from under the new chosen, the blue-haired, young man got his first good look at the newest member to their team. He didn't seem very well-dressed for treking in the wilderness of the Digital world, wearing only a pair of swimming shorts it seemed and a t-shirt, covered by a grey and black flannel jacket. He had medium brown hair, only as long as his shoulders, appearing very wild like it had not been brushed in ages but not horrid-looking.
Walking closer, Jyou moved the bed out of the gate's path with TK's help as the rest of the digimon and Kari came through. The boy -- Erin or Eric, something like that, he believed-- was opening his auburn eyes slightly with a wince on his face. Assuming it had to do with his injuries, Jyou gave a reassuring smile, "It's alright. May i take a look at your wounds?" The young man blinked in confusion at him and said something softly, sounding like English for 'lovely...', but Jyou failed to see what was pretty about this situation.
Looking over at Kari, he pushed his glasses back up again. "I thought you said he spoke Japanese?"
The child of Light blinked in response, walking over to Eric, and touched his chest with a soft hand, "Eric? Can't you understand me?" The young man -- Eric definetely being his name Jyou noted -- shook his head slightly, still looking as perplexed as before. She looked to Jyou with a slightly confused look, "We were talking fine, before though.... It sounded like he was speaking perfect Japanese with us..."
"I have a possible theory," Koushiro popped in for a moment, having been typing quietly at his computer. "Based on our prior meetings with Chosen in the Digital World, I believe the world itself somehow acts like a constant and planet-wide translator. It takes the speech from one person and effectively alters the speech patterns in the air, so that others hear it in thier natural linguistics." The computer whiz turned to look at the other four teens, seeing blank expressions on three but slight confused on for the oldest. "Basically, I mean the Digital World makes it so we can hear each other in our natural language, no matter where we are from. This would explain why we could speak with Michael so well when you two first met him."
Kari and TK both nodded, understanding the less complicated explination. "Then, how do we speak with him, Koushiro-kun?" Kari tilted her head slightly at Eric, whose expression was of absolute confusion.
Jyou smiled softly, looking at Eric, now that he understood the problem better. Remembering the English classes he had taken in order to keep in touch with Mimi, he bowed politely to the evident Americian, getting his attention. "Sorry. Did not realise, not know Japanese. Alright if check body?" He hoped he had worded his sentence correctly, smiling a bit more, as Eric sighed a little in relief and nodded, sliding his flannel off his shoulders.
Glad he had finally found a small way to communicate, the chosen of Faith leaned over as the foreign teen pulled his shirt up, exposing wrapped bandages around his ribs. Going to work, Jyou began examining the amount of damage that had been done, so he could figure out how much time of healing would be needed.
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TK blinked as Jyou said something in English, temporarily solving the language barrier they seemed to have run into. He glanced at his best friend, seeing her peer over Izzy's shoulders as he furiously typed away at his laptop again, which seemed to leave him as the official digimon watcher.
The four digimons who have decided to sit in a corner apart from everyone, seemed to have less of a communications problem then their human companions. Although Eric's ToyAgumon was speaking English, like his partner, the Floramon with them seemed fluent in Japanese and English both, working translations for the others.
"ToyAgu-chan said he wants to know if we might be eating soon. Seems the meal the Gekomon gave us did not satisfy him," Floramon giggles softly, smiling, as she passed the message to Gatomon and Patamon. The two older digimon glanced between themselves before looking at TK and noticing him walking towards them.
"Maybe TK can get something, I'm famished myself." The small wing-eared digimon flapped a couple times, raising himself until he came to rest on TK's hat. Used to the weight, TK watched as the plant digimon relayed the message to the grey agumon copy and immediately understood when his violet eyes light up.
Motioning for the small troupe of digimon to follow him, TK lead the way to the Izumi family kitchen. Thankfully, Koushiro's mother wasn't home today. Although she knew about the digimon now, it was still easier not having to explain new arrivals and such until they understood what was going on. Being as it may though, TK was still able to find a nice supply of sandwiches made on the counter, as if Mrs. Izumi had expected company. 'Is she psychic or something....?' Shaking the odd thought off, he grabbed the plate and handed one sandwich to each of them. He then walked back to Koushiro's room with just enough sandwiches for all the current Chosens present.
As he walked back in to the room, the first thing he noticed was Eric sitting with his bandages off and Jyou was applying some ointment to the bruised and battered areas on his chest. He couldn't help wincing slightly at the mark, not even wanting to imagine how sore it must be. Kari was sitting next to the new chosen, one of her hands on his shoulders in a comforting manner while obviously trying to ignore the new pain from Jyou's touch. Doing his best to overlook the small pang of jealousy, he walked over to Koushiro while most of the digimons trailed behind him to see how the new member was doing.
"So Koushiro," TK walked behind the computer whiz, handing him a sandwich that was absentmindedly taken, "Any plans on how to fix this comunication problem? He can't exactly get around town without knowing some Japanese, and much as she knows, Floramon can not play translator for him outside."
Koushiro took a bite out of his sandwich, chewing and swallowing it before he answered, "I may have an idea. I think I can rig his D3 to act as a translation barrier around him. It will allow him to be able to communicate with anyone else with some form of a digivice as long as he keeps his own on him. It should work for his partner too, although ToyAgumon won't need to stay within the field. Eric keeping his D3 should be sufficient. However, this still means talking outside will be impossible for now. So, I think our best bet would be to find a place for him to stay the night. Given a day or so, I can probably think of something to give him more range, if not having someone try and teach him Japanese."
TK blinked at the long-winded answer, not expecting so much explanation in one quick shot. "Well... I could probably convince my mom it's alright, maybe. She's out of the apartment so much, I don't see what would be the problem."
"That's a great idea, Takeru." TK almost jumped as he heard Kari suddenly behind him. "I'll tell my parents I'm staying at Miyako's tonight to work on a school project and help you watch him." She smiled sweetly at the digidestined of Hope, insuring he couldn't even argue with her about it.
Glancing behind Kari slightly, TK could see Jyou was finishing with the bandages around Eric's ribs again. From what little he could see, the coloration of his skin seemed a bit better, but it was obviously going to take some time to fully heal. As Jyou finished up, TK nodded to Kari, "Alright, but let's make sure he can stay first before doing anything else. Izzy, you try and get that translator running before we have to go, alright?" He recieved a nod from Koushiro and walked out of the room, rubbing his head slightly, as he tried to think how to explain this to his mother.
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Kari smiled softly as she glanced between the two digidestined with her. They were relaxing in TK's apartment since Jyou walked them home to help support Eric. TK was in the kitchen, microwaving a couple of mini-pizzas while she sat with Eric in the living room, listening to the radio. After their arrival, the digimons had tossed away their small costumes, which mostly consisted of small trenchcoats and such, and had gone into TK's room to get some sleep. And that left the three teens to fend for themselves until they tried for sleep as well.
Getting permission to stay at Miyako's had been easier than the Chosen of Light had expected, which was due to her older brother, Taichi, being home with their parents out for the night. All she had to do was tell him what was actually going on, and when he started objecting like a proper, older brother, she simply needed to threaten revealing certain secrets to 'convince' him that her way was the proper one. After that, and Koushiro installing the translator program into Eric's D3, things had been going nicely.
She looked over at the new member of their team as he relaxed on the couch. With his flannel over the back of the recliner next to him and his left arm covering his eyes, he almost seemed like he was sleeping, but she could tell he wasn't. After he had explained about the Driver incident and the language problems at Izzy's, she was a little worried about how he was holding up.
"Are you still hungry, Eric?" she asked, getting a limp nod in response. "Well, I can get you something to drink, if you want..." This time, she recieved a shake of his head, declining her offer. Noticing his lack of movement, she quietly got up and walked into the kitchen where TK was.
The smell of pizza was in the room since two of the three microwavable pizzas were done already, sitting on the counter. TK was watching the last one when Hikari walked in and announced her presance by softly poking under his arm, causing him to jump in surprise. She giggled softly since it never ceased to amaze her how cute he could be at times. As the microwave buzzed for the lat pizza, she opened the refrigerator, getting the orange juice out for something to drink.
"Has he said anything else?" TK asked, facing away from her as he reached to get a plate for the food.
"No... I'm beginning to think he's upset over something, with the few responses he's been giving." Of course, she could imagine that being tossed into the Digital World and returning to the real world in a totally foriegn country would have that effect on her too. "What do you want to do before bed, Takeru?"
The blond looked like he had a faint blush on his cheeks, but with his head still turned away, Hikari was sure she was seeing things. "We could watch some TV, I guess... Although I don't think I have anything with subtitles that Eric can watch with us. Besides, I should finish my math too...." She poured three glasses of OJ before taking the dinner into the living with her friend next to her.
Eric still hadn't really moved, laying on the couch in the same position as he had been before. With TK, Kari set the food and drinks on the table before she nudged Eric's arm, trying to get his attention. After a moment, she blinked and nudged again, surprised she wasn't getting a reaction this time. She gently lifted the arm on his face, giggling softly, as she saw his eyes closed, having drifted into sleep.
Kari put her finger to her lips to let TK know to stay quiet and walked with him into his mother's room to talk. She smiled as TK shut the door, so they wouldn't wake any of the sleepers in the house. Her smile softened as she sat down on the bed, watching him lean against the wall.
"So, what do you think, Takeru-kun?" she tilted her head slightly, watching him.
The blond shrugged slightly, "Not sure... I mean, it won't be hard getting him home, once Koushiro finds the placement for the portal from the digital world to his home, but what do we do until then? He could stay here a couple nights obviously, but without explaining it, or coming up with a fake reason, I can't have him here long before my mom asks...." Pulling his hat off, he let his hair down as he leaned his head back, thinking.
Kari blushed slightly, shaking her head after a minuteof realising she was staring. 'Stop that... Now is not the time to be thinking like that...' she mentally scolded herself. "Well... We should probably get some sleep.... You said I could have this room?"
TK blinked with his own cheeks flushing slightly and nodded, "Y..yea, that's fine. I'll get you a t-shirt, so you don't have to sleep in your clothes."
Kari smiled and nodded, letting TK leave. 'This is harder then I expected.... I almost wish I didn't care this much for him....' She knew that that wasn't true, but it didn't help her. Staying in the same house as TK was definitely not going to be a restful night, knowing that he was right in the other room. For the life of her, she couldn't see why being this close was a problem, considering that she had slept next to him tons of times which included the previous night. And sleeping in his own apartment with the only other people here being a small quartet of digimon and a third person, was somehow making her stomach do multiple backflips.
TK returned, carrying a large, flannel t-shirt. "Here ya go, Hikari-san. This will help ya keep warm." He handed her the flannel, accepting the nod she gave in thanks. "Well, I'm going to try and get that Math done. I'll see ya in the morning, alright?"
"Alright. Good night, Takeru-kun." He slipped out of the room quickly and recieved giggles from her when he bumped into the doorway, trying to close it. She smiled faintly and started undressing with the green flannel spread out on the bed. As she slipped into it, she was glad it was as large as it was, coming down to her thighs easily. Wearing only her underwear underneath it, she folded her clothes nicely on the dresser. "Sleep well, Takeru-chan... My Angel of Hope..." she whispered to herself, giving herself a small blush, as she slipped under the covers, soon drifting off to sleep.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sitting at his writing desk, Takeru Takaishi sat tapping his pencil on the paper in front of him. He had already stripped for bed, sitting in his chair in a pair of boxers. Out of the twenty math problems he had to have done tomorrow, he was still only on number five, having trouble concentrating. For the life of him, his thoughts kept drifting out of the room, to one thing or the other.
The newest Chosen did preoccupy part of his thoughts. The way he had arrived and everything just seemed so odd. If he was Americian, why did Koushiro not know where the gate was to his home, before they came back? Koushiro had evidently been a little frustrated by the same thing since he had told them he would be working all night to find where Eric lived, so they could get him home.
TK sighed softly, rubbing his forehead a little. While Eric was a small thing on his mind, the other digidestined in his home was the main reason for his lack of accomplishment. No matter how he tried to focus, he could not get his mind off the fact that Kari was right in the other room, asleep in his flannel.
He shook his head fiercely. If he didn't try harder, he would never get his work done. 'Besides, she's my best friend. I need to stop thinking about her like that....' Putting his pencil down, he looked at the next problem, but seconds later, he showed the same lack of concentration again.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As most of Odiaba slept peacefully, one young man was still wide awake. Koushiro sat at his computer with one hand typing furiously at the keyboard and the other was typing at the laptop connected to it. He needed to try and get things done so he could sleep for school the next day himself, and the multi-tasking was the only way to get both done.
On the laptop screen, various digimon evolutionary pathes, were being looked through. While adding the new info about Eric and his ToyAgumon, he had decided to try and see if he could figure something out about these digimon Eric had encountered, before TK and Kari found him. He needed to have a talk with the new Chosen soon to see if he could learn anything else, before some new villian decided to show itself.
On the computer was a different variety of information being transferred. The Americian database of people was being scanned thoroughly, searching for information on where the home of the new teen was. The frustration increased since it was such a large information database to search through, and that didn't include the fact that he was having to hack more then a couple of the needed sections.
Brushing one of his hands through his reddish hair for a second, he quickly resumed his task when something on the computer caught his eye, enough to attract his complete attention. He leaned forward, typing various commands, while his eyes grew wider by the second. He was finally beginning to uncover something useful. "What in the....?!"
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Rocker ~ Well, what do you guys thing? I had a insane amount of writer's block, and just finally got this chapter done within the last two days. ::sweatdrops:: Does this chapter feel rushed? I feel like it is, but I knew if I did ont get it done, and some progression done, I would end up blocked all over again.... Well anyway, I am hoping to get more done very soon, and finally make some progression. My apologies on the cliff hanger though, I have been wanting to use one in this for awhile now. ^_^ Anyway, laters all, hope to see ya soon!!